lest you think i'm exaggerating, take a look at how the video ends. >> the lasso again. and then the horseback. horse, horse, the cowboys ride, the cowboys ride. >> it's video prozac. you're welcome. you know, it's too bad the house of representatives went home for a break because i think that video is just what washington needs to crack the whole fiscal cliff thing wide-open. all i'm saying is i think it has the power to bring people together simpson style. that's it for us. thanks for watching. "early start" begins now. new this morning, tanks and personnel carriers stationed outside the presidential palace in egypt, clashes turning deadly overnight. rage at the new leader fears he may become the old leader. we're live from outside the palace in 30 seconds. plus new reports that syria is putting chemical components in bombs. the details, straight ahead. as of this morning for the

first time in the history of our country, it is now legal to smoke pot for recreational purposes in a state and we are there for the pot party. good morning, welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans in for john berman this thursday morning. >> i bet you never thought you'd say that, live at a pot party. good morning to you, i'm zoraida sambolin, 5:00 a.m. in the east here. tension has quickly turned to deadly violence in egypt. this morning, tanks and armored personnel carriers are guarding the presidential palace, this is in cairo. it was there last night that supporters and owe points of president mohamed morsi clashed. they hurled rocks and molotov cocktails at each other. at least five people were killed, hundreds injured. the root of the violence is what many believe is morsi's grab for power. ian lee joins us this morning. what's happening right now. >> reporter: we have the elite

republican guard, the people tasked with protecting the president. they are putting up barbed wire and road blocks, diverting traffic and people away and trying to keep the two sides, the pro-morsi and the anti-morsi protesters away from each other. last flight we saw thousands of pro-morsi supporters camp outside of the presidential palace, that is after they went there and removed, by force, the anti-morsi protesters. but now we have a small -- protests are planned for today against morsi and their plan to defe descend, again, on the presidential palace. >> a direct constitution has been approved and egyptians are scheduled to vote on it next week. is there something in this proposal that has protesters so angry? >> reporter: well, a lot of protesters are angry at the

quickness that this draft constitution was first put forward. it was really rushed through. in a 48-hour time period we saw that. that was in response to president morsi's constitutional decrees. he said once a constitution is approved, the powers that he took, he would no longer have those. they were eager to rush through the constitutional draft but a lot of the people here, moderates, liberals, christians, say that they don't protect the right of the minorities or of the people and they benefit the islamists in particular, it says it's vague on religious minorities and also vague on the role of women in the state. >> let's talk a little bit more about what is in there. many demonstrators are calling morsi a dictator as we've been talking about. the draft constitution contains term limits for the president. do they think morsi sin sis inse

there. >> reporter: that's not something we're hearing too much of. there are people that are concerned that this is a move to consolidate the power of the muslim brotherhood in egypt. a lot of people are upset, especially talking to constitutional experts, that said that this draft constitution and their belief isn't one that is set to serve egypt and serve the egyptian people, that it's vague in a lot of places and doesn't have defined rights as you see in other constitutions. >> all right. ian lee, live in cairo for us this morning. be safe. thank you. and potentially worrying new developments this morning in syria as well. increasing the fear that bashar al assad's embattled regime may be preparing to use chemical weapons against its opponents. nbc news reports that syria's military loaded the component chemical for the deadly nerve gas cerron into bombs that could be used in fighter jets.

they reported that syrian forces started combining chemical that could be used to make that gas for weapons. here at home, big news in the state of washington. it's the first state in the nation to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. voters approved a ballot initiative last month making it legal for adults to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. the new law took effect at midnight and people marked the occasion with a pot party at seattle space needle overnight. it's not a blanket license to smoke pot anywhere anytime. cnn's miguel marquez has been up all night, live in seattle for us. so it's not illegal to smoke marijuana but the whole distribution network of marijuana and the distribution and sale of marijuana is still illegal. there's a big asterisk here for recreational pot users. >> reporter: for now it is. in the next year or so that will be taken care of, as this law takes effect. but today was the first big step in what people here are calling a revolution.

that pot, less than an ounce is now legal to possess and use. ♪ ♪ i messed up my entire life because i got high ♪ >> reporter: anything less than an ounce no longer illegal in washington state. >> it's amazing. i'm not a cell anymore. i can't go to jail for small amounts of marijuana, you know. i'm free to be free. >> reporter: several dozen hard core smokers showed up here to the base of the space needle, the symbol of the city and state to light up at the stroke of midnight. while the new law does not allow smoking in public places, seattle police and police departments across the state are turning a blind eye tonight, allowing celebrations to light up. >> this is what you assume the stores will look like. or something along these lines? >> yes. our stores are going to have the feel of a fine cigar shop. >> reporter: once a high profile

at microsoft, this man is now preparing to open as many as two dozen high-end marijuana shots in washington and colorado. yesterday he'll be called a drug dealer within today an entrepreneur. >> our target market is baby boomers. folks who maybe tried it in college, maybe they didn't inhale but now it's actually safe to inhale. >> reporter: he's already working on packaging and attractive displays for future clients. the state liquor control board has a year to regulate and license the growing, processing and retailing of marijuana here. all of it taxable at a very high 25%. >> we're looking at the potential of bringing in more than $500 million each year in new tax revenue. >> reporter: the big question still, what will the federal government do? pot is still illegal federally. today a legal toak-up revolution

burning here in colorado. the only things the feds are saying at this point is that marijuana is still illegal federally. think of it this way in washington state, it will be treated like booze, basically, hard liquor. you have to be 21. you can get busted for dui, can't drink it in public, those sorts of things. all those rules are yet to be written, in a year or so you'll have pot stores all over this state. back to you. >> a number of big employers like boeing and costco ban their employees from smoking marge math. there are other companies that have to do drug testing. will this new law change anything for employers? can workers still get fired for testing positive? >> reporter: the simple answer is no, you can still get fired. you can't smoke pot and go to work. it doesn't change anything with regard to employers who have those rules in place. even with universities here, the university of washington here is saying that pot will still not be allowed on campus. there will be limits to this

thing. it's going to take a long time for people to get used to just how legal and open it is here. >> what about the 2k6789dui law is that going to work? >> reporter: almost exactly the same as the dui law for drinking. if you refuse a blood test, the license will be taken right there. if you allow a blood test, they'll figure out if you have enough active thc, the part of the marijuana that causes you to get high. if there's enough of that in your blood, you'll be over the limit and you will be charged and lose your license, same as when you're drinking. >> miguel, how does washington's pot law differ from colorado? >> reporter: biggest difference is, you can grow it in colorado. you cannot grow it here. once this thing is completely implemented it will only be licensed growers that will be able to grow pot. licensed processors will be able to process it and licensed retailers that will be able to sell it. zoraida? >> miguel marquez, thanks so much.

i was looking at some of the public polling in washington and the majority of women didn't think it should be legal. the majority of men by a larger margin thought it should be. people have different views on it. >> we were talking about this and i said my mommy mode kicks in. i have a 14-year-old that could be facing laws that aren't as strict as they used to be. i have to digest all of this. john mcafee could face deportation to belize. guatemalan officials took him into custody yesterday, accusing him of entering their country illegally. mcafee is wanted for questioning in belize in connection with a murder. he says he is innocent. he has maintained that from the beginning. he went into hiding a couple weeks ago because he feared persecution by police. the suspect accused of shoving a man to his death is

now facing a murder charge. naeem davis was arraigned last night. police say naeem, who's homeless, pushed ki suk han on to the tracks. they say he watched the train strike and kill han before fleeing the scene. witnesses helped police track him down. the university of colorado releasing nearly 4,000 e-mails that were sent or received by james holmes. they reveal he may have had a romantic relationship with a graduate student. and kmgh reports holmes begans fantasizing about killing a lot of people. that was nearly six weeks before the shootings. and a doctor who was treated him decided against holing him for a 72-hour mental evaluation because he was in the process of withdrawing from school. three american men accused of plotting to blow up u.s. bases in afghanistan pleaded not guilty.

prosecutors say they planned for almost a year to fly to afghanistan to join al qaeda and the taliban. the california men were arrested last month, days before investigators say they were to board a plane bound for istanbul and on to afghanistan. the fbi arrested their alleged ring leader in afghanistan, brought him back to the u.s. he has not faced a grand jury or been indicted. let the countdown continue. 26 days until the fiscal cliff. the focus has been on taxes but that's only half of what this is all about. the other ways you could be affect, coming up. to test the 2.0-liter turbo engine. [ engine revs ] ♪ [ derek ] 272 horsepower. the lightest in its class. the cadillac ats outmatches the bmw 3 series. i cannot believe i have ended the day not scraping some red paint off on these barriers. ♪ [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats.

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compromise. oak e oklahoma's republican senator breaking ranks, saying he's okay with raising taxes on the rich. two seizures off the coast of the dominican republic last month, authorities recovering more than 50 bails of coke. it is weighing close to two tons. the drugs had a street value of $45 million. it will now be destroyed. >> are you losing your keys or misplacing your wallet. >> yes. >> there may be a quarter-sized blue tooth enabled button to communicate with a smart phone. >> sneakers, that's hysterical. >> the app will have a radar feature if they're getting warmer or colder. >> my blackberry charger. that's what i need it for. >> it just has to tell you where it is. a sticky situation on a highway. in new hampshire, a tractor-trailer loaded with a cargo of maple syrup overturned on the interstate near

mansfield, new hampshire. diesel fuel also spilled on to the highway. 17 minutes after the hour this morning, time for your early read, your local news making national headlines. >> we have a lot for you this morning. >> from the seattle post intelligencer. marijuana now legal in washington state for people 21 and older, people celebrated once the clock passed midnight by lighting up. a street law decriminalizing marijuana by a 12-point marging last month. under the law, smoking it in public is still banned. selling pot remains illegal. smoking pot is still illegal under federal law. a man facing child neglect charges after he reportedly had his pit bull baby sit an infan. the mother left the 10-month-old

with 41-year-old james irvine. he soon decided to leave the child and go drinking. he allegedly told the mother that he did not leave the child alone. it was in the care of his pit bull who was sitting outside the closed door where the baby was placed. this is a true story. i know, right, speechless. his company is built around brightening your day. the head of starbucks has sobering thoughts about the state of the economy. >> we'll bring that to you. but then...it wouldn't be stouffer's mac & cheese. just one of over 70 satisfying recipes for one from stouffer's. it's hard to see opportunity in today's challenging environment. unless you have the right perspective. bny mellon wealth management has the vision and experience to look beyond the obvious. we'll uncover opportunities, find hidden risk,

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21 minutes paragraph the hour. good morning. welcome back to "early start." we are minding your business this morning. u.s. stock futures are trading higher. the foj kus is on washington as fiscal cliff negotiations continue. we will also get an update on the health of the labor market when the weekly jobless claims report comes out later this month. by now you all know the siren logo. >> many of you will grab a cup of coffee this morning. starbucks ceo has sobering advice to offer on the looming fiscal cliff, that the consequences will be far worse than last year's debt ceiling fight when the u.s. credit rating was downgraded for the first time ever. his message to lawmakers, now is not the time to play politics. it's about doing right by the american people. >> i think if people would get in the room and leave their ego behind, and not be so skewed towards the party but be so sensitive to the lens of the

american people, we will have an agreement. >> poppy harlow is joining us with more. we've been talking about how this will affect us. schultz says this goes way beyond our boarders. >> it's global. something that stuck with me talking to him about this, the people who need a deal most will be hurt the most. here's why. >> this single issue has a seismic affect on the rest of the world, that we have never been as connected and the domino effect of a bad outcome here will have significant negative consequences, domestically and around the world, not the least of which will be the level -- the fracturing of confidence in the united states of america. >> seismic and significant. very powerful words. >> yes. >> how could this play out for americans if we don't have a deal? what is that going to feel like to them, howard? >> i think there will be

tremendous personal pressure on people who will see their daily lives affected in ways that are hard to fathom, hard to calculate and hard to understand. >> so what does that mean? he said every day we don't have a deal people pull back on their discretionary spending, buying trips, making investments, buying christmas presents. that has a massive ripple effect. he thinks 50/50 chance we get a deal. you know, who knows. he also told me and i pushed him on this, can we have a deal without raising rates. >> he said, no, looking at the map, no. we have to raise rates. interestingly, too, you just talked this week to the ceo of fedex who said i'm dismayed that washington can't get it together. i said do you agree with warren buffett, if we raise rates that will stifle investments. he said i do agree with that. >> the fighting about raising rates on the top 2%, it's --

that's not going to stop, you know, business and investment. there's a lot of other things that happen that have to do that. one thing about all of this is that some people are trying to downplay the affects of the fiscal cliff saying if we go over for a few days it will be okay. ceos aren't saying that. you look at third quarter gdp, companies are spending less money on software and equipment because they don't know what's going to happen. the effects of the fiscal cliff are already holding back some things. >> of course. what stood out to me from howard schultz, the people that need it the most, the average american will feel this to the core. confidence is the corner stone. >> it makes you make decisions, big decisions, small decisions. i'm not going to buy that or do that, i'm scared to death. here's my question for the two of you. are more big ceos falling in line with the yes, let's raise the taxes on the 2%? >> if i don't know if a

majority. would you say a majority? >> i think they want a deal and people have to make -- it's hard to make compromises. >> we've heard it from goldman sac sachs, warren buffett, schultz. >> big names there. >> they want clarity. the interesting thing to me, the stock market and bond market haven't freaked out yet about this. people in the stock market saying they're not stupid enough to let us go there. >> to let this happen. >> i hope they'll get something done. >> gosh, i hope so. >> thank you. 25 minutes past the hour. an awards season shocker at the company that produces the oscar statuettes. they are laying off nearly 100 employees. that's more than a third of its work force. the company also made awards for the emmys and the rock 'n' roan hall of fame. >> changing the look of the men and women in uniform, the military looking for a new style of camouflage. they may take a page out of harry potter in doing so. watch us anytime on your

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rage right now in egypt. violent clashes outside the presidential palace. thousands fearing they might lose the freedom they won in the arab spring. first pot, now same-sex marriage. washington state legalized both while you were sleeping last night. the details on both, those stories coming up. a man in wisconsin is ordered not have any more children until he can afford them. you will never believe how many kids he's had by different women. >> that's what i call a tease. welcome back to "early start," i'm christine romans. >> and zoraida sambolin. 30 minutes past the hour here.

tension amid deadly violence in egypt. tanks and armored personnel carriers are guarding the presidential palace. at least five people were killed, hundreds injured. many egyptians are angry at what they believe is morsi's grab for power. some are outright calling him a dictator. ian lee jones us by phone from cairo. ian, what's the latest there? >> reporter: right now we're still seeing the army trying to keep the two groups separated now. the republican guard which is the elite unit that protects the president said that they're here to make sure no more violence happens around the presidential palace, that they're going to keep the two sides separated. so that there isn't a repeat of what we saw last night. we're already starting to see anti-morsi protesters descend on

the presidential palace, taunting the brotherhood members on the other side. it's going to be a task for the republican guard to keep the two sides separated, because it is very tense here and there's a lot of animosity between the two sides. >> ian, the constitution has been approved. the egyptians are scheduled to vote on it next week. what is in this proposal has that protesters so angry? >> there's two things that a lot of people are pointing out that's ambiguous about this constitution. that's the right of religious minorities, one. it doesn't address -- it addresses egypt's christian minority but egypt has a high minority that has for a long time been discriminated against. they also say the rights of the other minorities, the christians and the jews haven't been spelled out enough to the satisfaction of those communities. there's also people saying that

the rights of women aren't spelled out enough, that their role in society isn't guaranteed that they will have equality or that their rights are going to be guaranteed by the constitution. i've read parts of it is. it is ambiguous on role of women in owe site. >> ian lee in cairo on the phone. thanks, ian. 32 minutes past the hour. it is barely palpable but there are signs of movement in the fight over the fiscal cliff. a deal has to be hammered out in 26 days or all of us will be dealing with heavy-handed tax hikes and sweeping cuts. the two sides are keeping details of the discussion yesterday under wraps. thil standing their ground on tax hikes for the top 2%. >> the revenues we're putting on the table are going to come from, guess who, the rich. >> once republicans acknowledge that rates are going up for top earners, we believe that an

agreement is very achievable. >> kate baldwin is live from washington, d.c. really nice to see you, kate. i know i went into this saying that we're light on details. i'm wondering if you know anything else, are we closer to an agreement. >> i think we're a long way from a deal. although it's one issue they're fighting about. politically they are still very far apart. the two men as you mentioned, the president and speaker boehner did speak for the first time yesterday, the first time in a week which i guess at this point in and of itself is significant because there isn't much talking going on outside of that. but neither side is offering kind of a readout of this conversation. though aides have told cnn following that conversation that there's no significant or substantive progress that has been made. both sides still remain entrenched in their basic bargaining position, the president saying there is no deal, adamant there's no deal without raising rates on the top

2% of wage earners and really his deputy, secretary of the treasury, tim geithner, his point man for these negotiations doubled dunn on that yesterday when asked in an interview if the administration is ready to go over the cliff if republicans don't give on rates. listen to tim giter. >> absolutely. there's no prospect to an agreement that doesn't involve the rates going up on the top 2%. >> he's saying that republicans do not believe this is the right path to cutting our deficit, into promoting economic growth, boehner says. they do not want to raise tax rates. on wealthy americans or any american. i was outside a meeting that the republican leaders had with the rank and file members yesterday, speaking to member after member after they were leaving their meeting. there's often quite a break from the leadership and rank and file. they have given john boehner

trouble in the past but at this point, they are giving him some lee way and they seem to be rallying around the speaker and his negotiations at this point. there's no budging on either side. >> they said there was a lot of support there. president obama said i'm sticking to my guns also. the president is warning the republicans next move will be to use the upcoming vote on the debt ceiling as leverage in the budget battle. let's listen. >> if congress in any way suggests that they're going to tie negotiations to debt ceiling votes and take us to the brink of default once again as part of a budget negotiation, which by the way we have never done in our history until we did it last year, i will not play that game. >> i will not play that game. >> yes. >> is that something republicans are considering, and if so, i guess how would the white house respond? although i guess we're seeing a little bit of it there. >> i think you clearly see how

the president would respond. this is where the question of leverage comes in to play. he came out of the election, he says that he ran on this issue of raising tax rates on wealthy. he believes he is very much the leverage in this negotiation and so you don't see him budging. republicans see the little levers that they have in the debt ceiling fight. these are two separate issues but they're all coming together at the same time. welcome to washington. everything kind of comes together all at the same time unfortunately. the debt ceiling if it is not part of any agreement, regarding the fiscal cliff to avert the fiscal cliff they will need to take up this question of raising the debt ceiling come likely early next year. republicans see that the question of raising the debt creeling is where they have leverage in this negotiation. the president and democrats do not want the debt ceiling to be kind of -- raising the debt ceiling to be part of this negotiation. they do not want this on their plate come early next year. it all comes down to leverage. democrats see that they have the leverage here because look at

most recent polls today. if you look at this week, if you look at recent polls out this week, it shows that a majority of americans say if there is no deal, if we go over the fiscal cliff, they will blame republicans and not democrats or the president. you can be sure everyone is watching those polls. the debt ceiling if you can believe it, i know christine is rolling her eyes over there, the debt ceiling is becoming a part of this. >> that dialogue has been going on for quite some time now. at the end of the day, the republicans also want to feel like they're winning. >> we'll see you back here later. thank you. >> sounds great. >> 26 days to go on that. thanks, kate. it looks like the bodies of two missing cousins have been found by hunters in a wooded area in iowa. 10-year-old cook and 8-year-old collins went missing back in july. their bicycles and one of the girls purses were found near a neighborhood lake. friends and neighbors gathered for a vigil last night. the families have been notified. the bodies still need to be positively identified by the

state medical examiner. there is no suspects in their disappearance. this is the worst possible outcome for families who had been praying since the summers that these little girls would be found. >> they were hanging on to hope that the little girls were alive. that's such a tragic story. 38 minutes past the hour. recreational marijuana use is now legal in washington state. people gathered to celebrate and presumably light up once a new state law went into effect after midnight. having an ounce or less of pot is okay for anyone 21 years of age and over. smoking pot in public is still banned. it's also banned in bars and restaurants. selling pot is still illegal at least for now. pot remains illegal under federal law as well. the justice department hasn't said whether it will sue to block the regulatory plans from actually taking effect. >> washington state is also issuing its first same-sex marriage licenses. >> come on, you two. >> the first couple to receive one in king county, this couple.

they've been a couple for 35 years. they were flanked by family, friends and media on this historic occasion, about 250 people were liened up at the king county courthouse to get their marriage licenses signed. 39 minutes past the hour. the u.s. military changing the camouflage uniforms that protect our soldiers. we'll show you ahead but you better look fast. they might actually be invisible soon. >> wow. >> kid you not. r better. yeah? hey. hey. where's your suit? oh, it's casual friday. oh. [ male announcer ] chevy's giving more. now get a 2013 malibu ls for around $199 per month, plus competitive lessees can get $1,000 toward the down payment for an even better deal. ♪

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the difference between a soldier getting shot and going home. a lot is riding on the next generation to outfit troops. it's only been eight years since the army spent $5 billion on cam mow that critics say didn't fool anyone. soldiers complained to the point army abandoned its one-size fits all universal pattern. >> they were looking for camouflage they could use everywhere. >> correct. and it didn't work anywhere. >> reporter: guy cramer is one of the designers competing to win the army's next multimillion dollar contract. this summer he showed us the science behind every shape, size and shade of these pixels. >> you now have your camouflage. we're trying to trick the brain into seeing things that aren't actually there. >> reporter: digital patterns re-create shapes already found in nature and 3d layering creates depth and shadows where none exist. that's today's design. but developers already have one eye on tomorrow.

>> what's coming up down the road and very quickly is the harry potter cloak. >> what is it. >> reporter: with that fictional cloak, harry isn't just camouflage, he's invisible. >> my body's gone. >> reporter: how invisible are we talking here? if i walked into a room with a soldier wearing one of these cloaks -- >> you wouldn't see him at all. he would be completely invisible to you. >> reporter: this isn't make believe. the military has seen this quantum stealth technology. it works by bending the light around an object, even conceal most of a person's shadow. imagine what that could do for a sniper hiding in a field or the american pilots who ejected over libya when their fighter jets crashed last year. >> they could actually pull out very similar to what they carry with a survival blanket, throw it over top on them and unless you walked into them you wouldn't know they were there. >> reporter: what was once

firmly in the world of make-believe, could quickly become quite real. and the science is in the special fabric. you don't need a power source or some instruction manual to make it work. theoretically, any soldier, even in the most remote location, could quickly put it on and put it to work. chris lawrence, cnn, the pen gone. >> pretty remarkable. >> i'll say. 45 minutes past the hour. a check on some of the morning's top stories ahead, including a turf war on the internet. why your photo of today's breakfast may not reach as many people. oh, the humanity of it. i'm freaked out about this. i can't wait to talk more about it. watch us anytime on your desktop or mobile phone, go to cnn.com/tv. . [ engine revs ] ♪ [ derek ] 272 horsepower. the lightest in its class. the cadillac ats outmatches the bmw 3 series.

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welcome back. 49 minutes past the hour. a quick check of your top stories. president obama and house speaker john boehner chatting by phone about the fiscal cliff. no details or word of progress or future talks with just 26 days remaining to get a deal done. another prominent republican is breaking ranks. tom coburn, a leading conservative and fiscal hawk saying he'd prefer raising taxes on the wealthy as a way to raise revenues. a bitter turf war between twitter and instagram elle cl escalating. no one on twitter will be able to see the images posted on

instagram. instagram's goal is getting people to post more photos on their site. a man cannot have any more children until he shows proof that he can actually afford those children. 44-year-old corey curtis is charged with failure to support two of the nine children that he's fathered with six women. he owes $85,000 and says he is ready to abide by the judge's order. >> good idea. >> all right. the grammy nominations announced in style with a star-studded concert, jay z and kanye west were among the six artists tied for the most nominations, six apiece. the grammy awards ceremony, music's biggest night will be held in february 10th in los angeles. you'd never know it's the holidays in new york city by the temperatures. it's been in the 60s here this week. i'm worried by daffodils are

going to come up. where's winter? meteorologist alexandra steele is in for rob. >> today new york you will be in the 40s but you know, where's it been? in the last two weeks or so, we've had 1,600 record highs. of course with the warmth we've had a lack of early snow in the midwest and also in the northeast. of course they go hand in hand. take a look at this. it's been 276 days in chicago without measurable snow. measurables is a tenth of an inch or more. we could break the record in milwaukee. it's been 275 days without measurable snow. the record there only a few days from now. really no big snowstorms, not even an inch coming for some of these places but that will change. colder air is coming. i promise if you're looking for it. we've seen such cold air in alaska and in canada. that wilt drain farther south. the jet stream allows these temperatures to drop off and

afford snow if the moisture moves in. 15 to 25 degrees below average for so much of the country. the southeast, we're staying from atlanta, nashville and birmingham. sunday is when that cold air will come in. two chances in places like denver, minneapolis and green bay between now and sunday for a little bit of snow, maybe a couple inches or so. we've seen it in the cascades, the sierra and northern rogz. they get it but we get into it farther east than we had in the past, guys. the big picture, pretty quiet. mountain snow in the northwest. temperatures coming down for the center of the country. >> exciting. thank you so much. 53 minutes past the hour. the duchess of cambridge has been released from the hospital. you know she was admitted earlier this week with acute morning sickness. katherine along with prince william have announced they are expecting their first child. we have the pictures for you. we're getting those together and we'll show you.

we'll see if she's looking well. everybody around the world sent them well wishes. kobe bryant reaches a milestone that only four other players it nba history is reached. that story and a former u.s. senator going gangnam style. they are trending this morning. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy.

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and welcome back. 57 minutes after the hour. i'm here with zoraida. taking a look at the top cnn trend on the web this morning. >> kobe, the youngest nba play to ever reach the 30,000 club. he scored the 30,000th point of his career. that was in a laker win last

night over the hornets. only four other players have reached the 30,000 point mark. kareem abdul-jabbar, karl malone, michael jordan and wilt chamberlain. >> a small club, 30,000. riding a horse right off the fiscal cliff. 81-year-old former senator, alan simpson, half of the simps simpson-bowles debt commission, dancing gangnam style next to a guy dressed as a can. >> stop instagraming your breakfast and tweeting your first world problems and getting on youtube so you can see "gangnam style." ♪ gangnam style >> he did do it. wow. >> he's very serious about congress getting its act together. >> good job. >> it's a good thing for conan o'brien and jimmy fallon that mike tyson hung up his boxing gloves.

fallen took a dig at our very own anderson cooper. >> mike tyson is revealing interesting information about his past. >> yes. >> he said that he once walked in on his wife having sex with brad pitt. in a related story, brad pitt said mike tyson once saw him crap his pants. >> in a new interview mike tyson says in 1998 he found brad pitt in bed with his ex-wife robin gibbons. of course pitt has evidence to refute that. the fact that he still has both ears. it never happened. this is scary, guys, anderson cooper, he said while filming a segment for "60 minutes" he got a sunburn on his eye balls and was temporarily blind. either that or anderson cooper is terrible at faking a sick day. i have a sunburn on my eye ball. i can't make it to work. bye. >> that's funny. "early start" continues right now.

new this morning, tanks and personnel carriers stationed outside the presidential palace in egypt, clashes turning deadly overnight, rage at the new leader, fears he may become the old leader. we are live from outside the palace in 30 seconds. plus new reports this morning that syria is putting chemical components in bombs. all the details, straight ahead. as of this morningahead. and as of this morning, for the first time in the history of our country, it is now legal to smoke pot for recreational purposes in a state and we are there for the pot party. good morning and welcome to "early start" this morning. i'm christine romans in for john berman today. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. it's thursday, december 6th, 6:00 a.m. in the east. we're keeping a close eye on the developing situation in egypt. protesters have turned to deadly violence now. the presidential palace in cairo is being guarded this morning by tanks and armored personnel

carriers. the streets around the palace turned violent last night as supporters and opponents of president morsi hurled rocks and molotov cocktails at each other. hundreds were injured and several were killed. they feel betrayed the by what they believe is president morsi's power grab. many now label him a dictator. ian lee joins us by phone from cairo. what's happening right now? do they have these clashes under control? >> right now there's kind of an uneasy calm in cairo. we have the republican guard, and this is the elite's unit that protects, they have tanks and armored personnel set up along with barbed wire and barricades around the presidential palace. president morsi does have thousands of supporters also around the presidential palace. we have seen some protesters, anti-morsi protesters descend on the presidential palace, but we haven't seen the large numbers since yesterday. but we are hearing that there

are plans for marches to go to the presidential palace. so it's right now in the neighborhood, around it, it's very tense, as we're expecting, more protesters to descend on the palace. >> ian, there are some demonstrators that are calling morsi a dictator. but the draft constitution does contain term limits for the president. do protesters they morsi is insincere in his efforts? >> the reason a lot of them are calling him a dictator is because not only did he hold the presidential powers and legislative powers, but then he took away the judiciary's oversight of a constitutional process, writing the constitution, that was no more checks and balances. a lot of people see this as a way that president morsi and the muslim brotherhood can consolidate power and also promote an agenda that they believe that will keep them in power. but the president and the members of the muslim brotherhood say this is the only way to move the country forward and to get out a constitution

quickly so the people can vote on it. and they also say, if they don't like it, let it come down to a vote, to a referendum. let the people decide if they like the constitution or not, and let that be the thing that determines how egypt goes forward. >> ian lee live in cairo for us this morning, thank you. our other big story this morning, syria increasing the fear that president bashar al assad's embattled regime may be planning to using chemical weapons against its opponents. syria's military has loaded the component for the deadly nerve gas sarin. now to the strange saga of john mcafee, the internet security pioneer. he could face deportation to belize as early as today. guatemalan officials detained mcafee yesterday, accusing him of entering that country illegally.

he turned up in guatemala on tuesday, after disappearing from his home in belize. police there want to question mcafee in connection with the murder of his neighbor. he says, he has maintained from the very beginning that he's innocent. the suspect accused of shoving a man to his death in a new york city subway station, now facing a murder charge. 30-year-old naeem davis was arrested last night. he pushed a man off the tracks as a train was entering the station. they say davis watched the train strike and kill hahn before fleeing the scene. three american men accused of plotting to blow up u.s. bases in afghanistan have pleaded not guilty. prosecutors say the three men planned for almost a year to fly to afghanistan to join al qaeda and the taliban. the california men were arrested last month, just days before

investigators say they were to board a plane bound for istanbul and then on afghanistan. the fbi arrested their alleged ringleader in afghanistan and brought him back to the united states. he has not yet faced a grand jury or been indicted. now to reefer madness in washington state. recreational marijuana use has been legal there for about six hours now. a new law allows adults to possess up to an ounce of pot, legally. seattle's space needle has been the scene of an all-night pot party. cnn's miguel marquez is live for us in seattle. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, zoraida. i think i have a contact high from covering that party. and those parties took place across the state. people excited about this new law going into effect, but it has a lot further to go before it's fully implemented. ♪ the moment recreational pot,

anything less than an ounce, no longer illegal in washington state. >> it's amazing. i'm not a criminal anymore. i can't go to jail for small amounts of marijuana, you know? i'm free to be free. >> reporter: several dozen hard-core smokers showed is up here to the base of the space needle, the symbol of the city and of the state to light up at the stroke of midnight. and while the new law does not allow smoking in public places, seattle police and police departments across the state are turning a blind eye tonight, allowing celebrations to light up. this is what you assume the stores will look like. or something along these lines? >> yeah, so our stores are going to have the feel of a fine cigar shop. >> reporter: jaymon shively was a high-profile executive at microsoft, now preparing to open as many as two dozen high-end marijuana shops in washington and colorado. yesterday he'd be called a drug dealer. today, an entrepreneur. >> our target market is actually

baby boomers. these are folks who maybe tried it in college a couple of times, maybe they didn't inhale, but now it's actually safe to inhale. >> reporter: he's already working on packaging and attractive displays for future clients. the state liquor control board has a year to regulate and license the growing, processing, and retailing of marijuana here. all of it taxable at a very high 25%. >> we're looking at the potential of bringing in more than $500 million each year in new tax revenue. >> reporter: the big question, still, what will the federal government do? pot still illegal federally. today, a legal toke of revolution burning here and soon colorado. now, the only thing the federal government has said at this point is to remind both washington state and colorado, where this becomes legal in january, by january 5th, is that pot is still illegal federally and they are -- they only say

it's in the review process and they're not sure how they're going to treat it. here in washington state, it's envisioned that the way that this will eventually work is like hard alcohol, essentially. you won't be able to smoke pot and drive, you'll have to use it in your home and not in public, and you'll have to be 21 and over in order to get access to it. christine? >> so for today, miguel, you can possess up to one ounce of pot, but can you buy it legally? >> reporter: you cannot buy it legally today. that's one of the odd things about this program. you won't have the legal growers, processors, and retailers for another year at this point. so at this point, you still have to go to the black market to purchase pot in washington state. >> yeah, and the black market, the distribution, the sale and distribution is still, it's still an illegal -- it's still not a legal enterprise. >> reporter: correct. >> and enough big employers in washington state, boeing and cosco, they've banned their employees, miguel, from smoking

pot. will this new law change anything? can workers still get fired for testing positive? >> reporter: yeah, no. the simple answer is no. if your employer says you can't smoke pot and if you get tested and are positive, this doesn't change that. and there are rules reminding students it is not legal to have pot and smoke pot on campus. >> and the dui law, they'll have to adjust that a little bit. even though it's legal to possess marijuana, it is not legal to drive under the influence. >> reporter: yeah, that's one of the really contentious things for a lot of pot smokers here is the dui law will be updated to include marijuana usage. so it will measure thc -- blood tests will measure thc in the blood. if it's over a certain amount, your license goes, and just like if you were drinking and driving, you get the same effect. christine? >> miguel marquez, thanks, miguel. >> you got it. breaking news in just minutes ago. the duchess of cambridge has

been released from the hospital. she was admitted earlier this week with acute morning sickness. katherine along with prince william have announced that they are expecting their first child. there are the pictures for you. she looks well, right? carrying a bouquet of flowers there. they got well wishes from all over the world. i don't remember how many weeks pregnant she is, but it's less than 12 weeks. >> she's not yet 12 weeks pregnant. and she had not just morning sickness, but what doctors called morning sickness on steroids, where you're sick all the time and had to be hospitalized for that. >> there's been a lot of speculation about what does that mean, the fact that she had that extreme morning sickness, a lot of times you have multiple pregnancies that way. >> a higher chance of multiple pregnancies -- or multiple -- >> i'm sorry. >> one pregnancy, but two babies. multiple births. >> multiples. >> there you go. switching gears here, because we're also following an already dangerous and intense situation, syria may be taking a deadlier turn. reports this morning that the country's leader may be preparing the to unleash chemical weapons on his own

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[ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are, or may become pregnant or are breast feeding should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. talk to your doctor today about androgel 1.62% so you can use less gel. log on now to androgeloffer.com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news.

with odor free aspercreme. powerful medicine relieves pain fast, with no odor. so all you notice is relief. aspercreme. there are new concerns this morning about the deteriorating situation in syria, specifically the increasing fear that bashar al assad may resort to using chemical weapons against his opponents. nbc news reports the that syria's military has loaded the component chemicals for the deadly nerve gas sarin into aerial bombs that could be dropped from fighter jets. cnn reported on monday that syrian forces started combining chemicals that could be used to make sarin gas for weapons. cnn's mohammed jamjoom is in beirut with more. what is the very latest here?

>> reporter: well, zoraida, combined with this nbc news report from last night and what cnn reported on monday, there are increasing fears that the bashar al assad regime in syria could possibly resort to using chemical weapons. that they possibly have started mixing their chemical weapons. this has been a nightmare scenario for some time. we should add, however, that even today, syrian officials have reiterated their stance that they've been saying for quite some time, that they will not use chemical weapons against the population of syria, and that any type of military intervention by western powers in syria would be catastrophic, not just for the region, but for the entire world. taken together, though, these are very worrying signs. we know that later today, u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton is going to be meeting with her russian counterpart, sergey lavrov. this is a meeting that's going to take place in dublin later today. this is an effort to try to get the peace plan for syria back on

track, a u.n. effort that's stalled for so many months now. there's not a lot of hope it will get back on track anytime soon. a lot of international powers and pressure being put on syria to try to comply with some sort of peace plan so this nightmare scenario doesn't come to any sort of fruition. zoraida? >> all right, we're talking about a deadly nerve gas, it is sarin. can you tell us what kind of damage could this do to the people there? >> reporter: it's well known that sarin and the use of sarin is a nightmare scenario. the use of it could kill a huge amount of people in a very short amount of time. now, last night, a former cia officer, robert bear, was speaking to anderson cooper. he described what the use of sarin could do. here's more of what he had to say. >> one round and the dispersion on that could be -- depends on the wind -- but you could take out, let's say a city like homs, you could take out a third of

the city in the first couple of hours. anderson, this is a highly toxic liquid. it's a persistent agent. it's absolutely completely deadly. >> reporter: now, we've heard repeatedly from u.s. administration officials, u.s. president barack obama, u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton that the use of chemical weapons in syria was a red line for which syria and the bashar al assad regime would face severe consequences if they ever did cross that red line and utilize chemical weapons against the people of syria. >> and we have no idea what those severe consequences would be, right? >> reporter: that's right, we don't. you know, people speculate that this would mean some type of military intervention, but we also know that a lot of world powers have not wanted to intervene militarily in syria. that they've wanted what's going on in syria to happen within syria. but the fear is if chemical weapons are utilized, and again, the syrian regime has said on many occasions, they are not

going to use chemical weapons against their population, that that would mean there would be some type of military intervention, although it's unclear what scope that type of military intervention would take. >> mohammed jamjoom live in beirut, thanks very much. a sobering cup of joe from the starbucks ceo. his dire warning about leaping off that fiscal cliff is next. you're watching "early start." begin.

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good morning, again.

minding your business. 21 minutes past the hour. stock futures a little bit higher this morning, but the focus still on washington, fiscal cliff negotiations, the world. stocks have held up pretty well despite all this talk, but really want washington to get a deal done. we'll also get an update on the health of the labor market when the weekly jobs number comes out later this morning. of course, the big jobs number is tomorrow. >> i know you're very excited. >> i'm looking to see what kind of impact sandy had on those numbers and maybe fiscal cliff holding some employers back tomorrow. >> so bad news? >> we'll see. >> for now we all know the siren mogul. >> but the ceo, howard schultz, some sobering advice to offer on the looming fiscal cliff. the consequences will be worse than last area's debt ceiling fight, when the u.s. credit rating was downgraded for the first time ever. his message to lawmakers, now is not the time to play politics. you've got to do the right thing for the american people.

>> i think if people would get in the room and leave their ego behind and not be so skewed towards the party, but be so sensitive to the lens to have the american people, we will have an agreement. >> poppy harlow joins us now with more of her conversation with howard schultz. much of the conversation has been about, you know, what's the best thing to do for this country, but it's a globe -- he says the whole world is watching. >> yeah, that it has massive consequences for the entire world. but you want to ask someone like howard schultz who runs a big global company like starbucks, how do you create jobs? this is a guy who's been pretty critical of the government saying, look, the u.s. government hasn't done enough to create jobs, so we wanted to know specifically what should be done, what policy measures should be taken. here's his perspective. >> there is such a large sum of money, sitting on the balance sheet of public companies overseas. some people have said $2 trillion to $3 trillion. i don't know what the exact number is. but if we repatriated that money

at a lower tax rate, people would bring the money back. but i would tie the repatriation and the lower tax rate to a mandate of having to create jobs or invest in manufacturing capital equipment that would bring our manufacturing base back or begin to. >> so what would make this tax holiday different than in 2004, when arguably it didn't necessarily create so many jobs, like corporations said it would. that it would be tied to the mandate of investing and/or hiring. so to create jobs. you know, this coming from a man who announced yesterday that his company, starbucks, will open 3,000 new stores in the next five years. 1,500 of them, here in the united states. and i asked him, you know, why are you so optimistic when you're so worried about the fiscal cliff, what's happening in washington, and he thinks that the company can support those jobs here in the united states, despite a downturn if we do have one. >> that's kind of a different mind-set, right? because all we keep on hearing is how the fiscal cliff is going to adversely affect the creation

of jobs. >> and he thinks it will, but this is a long-term game plan, five years out. that that's important here. but, you know, they're expanding hugely in india. they just opened three weeks ago in india. and in china, it's going to be the second biggest market for starbucks by 2014. they're going to have 1,500 stores in 70 cities in china in the next three years. >> and let's be clear about the fiscal cliff. i mean, the near-term impact is bad, right? a lot of people think it would be a recession, but lasting long-term impact, it would lower deficits, you know, and would cut into -- so -- >> dramatically. >> so this isn't the way to go about it. you want to scalp a hatchet, as i keep saying. but companies are trying to make long-term plans, even though near term they're very concerned about what's going on. apple stock dropped more than 6% yesterday. watch that? shares down a little bit in premarket trading this morning. there are a few factors that traders suspect drove the selling. today there's another hearing in the patent case with samsung in california and a research report

generated buzz that apple's tablet competitors could eat into its market share. apple shares were up 33% so far this year, right? so if somebody's taking some profits, they've been doing it recently. they're down 24% from their all-time high a few weeks ago. all right. 25 minutes past the hour pap sorority under fire for throwing a mexican-themed party, exploding with offensive stereotypes after this picture is posted online. it is only adding to the problems for one university that cannot stay out of the headlines. >> oh, ladies. twins. i didn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligations. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes

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rage right now in egypt. violent crashes right outside the presidential palace. thousands fearing they might lose the freedom they want in the arab spring. first pot, now same-sex marriage. washington state legalized both while you were sleeping last night. the details, coming up. and a man in wisconsin is ordered not to have anymore children until he can afford them. you will never believe how many kids he's had by how many different women. we'll have that story for you, coming up. good morning to you. welcome to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm christine romans in this morning for john berman. it is december 6th and 30 minutes past the hour. let's get you update on fast-moving developments in egypt. tanks and armored personnel carriers are stationed outside the presidential palace in cairo. soldiers are not only guarding the palace, but trying to prevent anymore violence between supporters and opponents of president mohamed morsi. they clashed outside the president last night. terrible violence left at least

five dead. more than 400 injured. morsi is expected to address his people today. opponents want him to withdraw the decree granting himself sweeping powers. cnn's reza sayah is in cairo with the latest. good morning, reza, what can you tell us? >> good morning, christina. this is a critical day here for egypt, as this conflict unfolds and it evolves into a violent confrontation between these two sides. later on today, president morsi is scheduled to address nation. we're not sure what he's going to say, but certainly this is a president that's under tremendous pressure to cool the situation down and unite this country, because there's all sorts of evidence that this is a country that's divided and things could get worse if something doesn't change. we're overlooking the presidential palace right now, in front of the palace, you have a large group of supporters of the president that have gathered. a block away, you have anti-morsi protesters looking on.

these are two sides that went at it last night. they literally brawled in front of the palace. more than 400 people injured, five people killed. and the question today, will those clashes take place again? the tanks have moved in to protect the palace. i wouldn't read too much into that. there's no indication that the military is going to inject itself into this conflict. no indication that they've picked sides in this conflict. but certainly, they're showing their presence in an effort to calm things down, christine. >> reza, a draft constitution has been approved. egyptians are scheduled to vote on it next week. what exactly is in this proposal that these demonstrators so very angry? >> reporter: when you look at the constitution, there's no drastic changes from the previous constitution. nothing really jumps out at you. but the opposition says the constitution is written vaguely enough that they're concerned that down the road, an islamist

government could use the constitution to deny them the rights. these are the liberals, the moderates, the women's right's groups who are concerned about their rights. and furthermore, i think between these two sides, there's deep mistrust. the opposition faction simply doesn't trust president morsi and the muslim brotherhood. that's why they're out here. they're worry that if he takes the helm of government, the opposition is in jeopardy. >> thank you so much. reza sayah reporting for us from cairo. 33 minutes past the hour. we're seeing signs of movement, was this morning we're still facing a costly fall off that fiscal cliff. if there is no deal in 26 days, we're facing devastating tax hikes and spending cuts and a possible relapse into recession. the president and house speaker john boehner broke the ice yesterday. they did speak by telephone. the two sides keeping details of their discussion under wraps. and still standing firm on tax hikes for the top 2%.

>> the revenues we're putting on the table are going to come from, guess who? the rich. >> once republicans acknowledge that rates are going up for top earners, we believe that an agreement is very achievable. >> kate balduan is live from washington. kate, do we have anymore details on that phone call? >> i mean, i think we can take from it the fact that there's been so little negotiating going on and so little movement. it's significant of itself that these two top negotiators have even spoken on the phone. this is the first time they've spoken on the phone, or as far as we know, spoken at all, in a week. but there are no real indications of a readout from those phone calls and no indication of any real progress. we are still a long way from a deal. all indications are that both the speaker and the president remain very much dug in on their basic positions. the president has insisted, he insisted publicly yesterday and

all of his aides do as well, that they're remaining firm, that as part of any deal, tax rates need to increase on the top 2% of wage earners. and his deputy, his point person in these fiscal cliff negotiations, treasury secretary, timothy geithner, really doubled down on that yesterday in an interview with cnbc when he was asked if the administration was ready to go over the fiscal cliff, if republicans do not give on this tax issue. listen to what he said. >> oh, absolutely. again, there's no prospect to an agreement that doesn't involve those rates going up on the top 2% of the wealthiest -- remember, it's only 2%. >> john boehner, though, remaining firm in his position, though he says he's already giving, because they're acknowledging that revenue will go up in taxes through the way that they would like to see taxes go up, even though they don't want to see taxes go up, through closing loopholes and eliminating deductions. john boehner acknowledges that revenue is going to be part of this deal, but they are standing

firm on, they will not agree to at this point to raising tax rates on anyone. so either way, the major issue remains. the major issue, the major hurdle remains the tax rate issue. >> right, right. and meantime it's ticktock, right? and the house is out as of yesterday. members are headed to their home states for a nice long weekend with no deal in sight. the majority leader, eric cantor, says he's going to force congress to keep coming back and stay in session until a deal is done. seriously? >> he is serious. but, i mean, it was a pretty short workweek for the members of the house, that's for sure, as they left, not only left yesterday, they left at noon yesterday, after votes. the fact of the matter is that this has happened before. that they will be out on recess, they will be back in their home districts and the leadership will call them back for a vote. but also, there are many procedures which i do not want to bore you right now, that they don't need to call everybody

back. if everyone can agree to agree, they can pass something through unanimous consent and pass something through the house very quickly as well as through the senate. what it really comes down to is, all of these members, honestly, do not need to be in town, because they are not part of these negotiations. these negotiations are between two men, house speaker john boehner and the president. and once those two men agree, then they will take it to their folks. >> all right. kate balduan, live in washington. thank you. >> thanks, guys. all right, recreational pot is now legal in washington state under a new law which took effect at midnight. adults can possess up to an ounce of marijuana legally. it's still against the law to grow pot or to sell it. but those celebrating the new normal are accentuating the positive. >> it's amazing. i'm not a criminal anymore. i can't go to jail for small amounts of marijuana, you know? it's -- i'm free to be free. >> the new law doesn't allow smoking in public places, just like alcohol, but police in seattle and across the state made an exception for overnight

celebrations to ring in this new law. so it's another public relations problem for penn state. the school's kai omega sorority is under investigation for stereotype i stereotyping latinos. pictures showed the sorority members in somberos with fake mustaches with signs that say "i don't cut grass, i smoke it." taif been missing for four months now. police say the bodies of two young cousins have apparently been found by hunters in a wooded area in iowa. 10-year-old lyric cook and her 8-year-old cousin, elizabeth collins, they vanished over the summer. their bicycles were found near a neighborhood lake and remember they drained that lake looking for these girls or any evidence about where to find them. friends and neighbors gathered at that lake last night for a vigil. the girls' bodies still need to be officially identified by the

medical examiner. but elizabeth's mother in an emotional message on her facebook page confirmed the bodies are those of elizabeth and lyric. police say they have no suspects in that case. 38 minutes past the hour. nearly 4,000 e-mails that are sent or received by movie theater massacre suspect james holmes have been released by the university of colorado. they reveal holmes may have had a romantic relationship with a fellow graduate student. and cnn's denver affiliate reports that holmes began fantasizing about killing a lot of people nearly six weeks before the shootings and that a doctor who was treating him decided against holding him for a 72-hour mental evaluation. why? because he was in the process of leaving the school. coming up, a stripdown at city hall. why these nudists were baring all and were fighting mad. ay. fijit friends. fifteen bucks on rollback. wow! that's a savings of over 29 bucks! twenty-nine bucks!!?? and they're powered by friendship. see for yourself if you could save on the brands you want. walmart.

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42 minutes past the hour. soledad o'brien joins us now with a look at what is ahead on "starting point". >> lots happening this morning. we'll continue to talk about what happened overnight in those violent and deadly clashes in egypt as that country unveils a draft for its new constitution. right now tanks are outside the presidential palace. we'll bring you a live report from cairo this morning. also, at the stroke of midnight, recreational use of pot in washington state became legal. all the rules kind of smokey, if you will, because growing and selling pot is still a crime federally. we're going to kind of make our way through the legal haze, if you will. allen st. pierre and steve sarich will join us. he's filed a lawsuit to try to overturn that law. then, an army of one.

but does it still apply when it comes to religion. we'll talk to an outgoing west point cadet. he resigned five months before he was supposed to graduate. he said he was discriminated against because he's not religious. that and many other stories. >> looking forward to it. it's hard to get into the holiday spirit with temperatures around the country as warm as they have been. but i am doing a really good job of it. meteorologist alexandra steele is in for rob. how warm is it? i've got to tell you, it was a little cooler this morning. >> that's right. and it will be cool today. you should be in the low 40s this time of year, and today that's where you've been, but she's referring to the 60s of the past few days. so where's the winter ban? waking up in the morning, you probably enjoy that lack of cold, cold air. but the last nine days around the country, we've seen 1,600 record highs fall. we've got the warmth, the moisture moves in, certainly not going to follow snow. we've had a real lack of early snow in the midwest and the northeast. but as we look towards these records, we could even be breaking these. in chicago, 276 days without any

measurable snow. measurable snow means a tenth of an inch or more. remember, in chicago and milwaukee, the springs were really warm too. we didn't accumulate a lot of snow then either. milwaukee, 275 days without measurable snow. the next couple of days, we may tie or break those records. but the cold air's acoming. the jet stream has been very far north and kept that arctic air in canada and alaska. it will release it and we'll see much cooler temperatures. few chance for snow in denver, minneapolis, and green bay between now and sunday. the snow's been limited to the cascades, the sierra, the northern rockies. they'll see it, but finally, maybe, minneapolis, upper midwest gets into a little bit of snow. but it will feel a lot colder, that's for sure, especially by sunday for a lot of the country. >> all right. thank you so much. alexandra steele. we'll take it, won't we? >> we have no choice. >> one thing you can't control, the weather. call it a fiscal cliff icebreaker, president obama and house speaker john boehner

finally speaking to each other by phone yesterday. there's still no sign of progress or future talks with 26 days remaining until massive tax increases and spending cuts begin. a naked protest at san francisco city hall. the nudists are protesting an ordinance that would force them to cover up in public, starting next year. the activists say the law would violate their civil rights as nudists, the ordinance was sponsored by a local supervisor who says his constituents were tired of seeing a group of naked men every day. a $4.1 million modernization project at los angeles international airport wouldn't be complete without a caviar bar, along with 18 new state of the art boarding gates, the airport is adding 50 premiere luxury and dining outlets. the airport is adding a caviar and champagne bar. >> really? >> why, you ask? one of the chief developers explains the way you capture the flavor of a city is through its food.

hello! >> top 1%. if you're away from your television right now, running around the house, getting ready for work, come on over. take 30 seconds. nasa just released these stunning pictures of earth at night. check it out. we've zoomed in to the united states in this next piece of video. you see the u.s. lit up at night. isn't that incredible? the great thing about this is the pictures are cloud-free. head to nasa.gov and you can see a lot more of these pictures, share them with the kiddies. they will think this is super cool. >> that is neat. another big win for zero dark 30 in the run-up for the oscars. the group also named kathryn bigelow best director and the film star, jessica chastain, best actress. the film about the hunt for osama bin laden also took the top prize from the new york film critic circle earlier this week. and coming up, why your photo of today's breakfast may not reach as many people. oh, the humanity of it. i'm really upset about this.

a social media cold war being waged between twitter and instagram. folks, if you are leaving the house right now, you can watch us anytime. take us with you. we'll be on your desktop or mobile phone. just go to cnn.com/tv. initiated. neural speeds increasing to 4g lte. brain upgrading to a quad-core processor. predictive intelligence with google now complete. introducing droid dna by htc. it's not an upgrade to your phone. it's an upgrade to yourself. five days later, i had a massive heart attack. bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me.

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so it's not about keeping my dentures in, it's about keeping the food particles out. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. 50 minutes past the hour. if you are not getting as many likes on your photos today, there may be a reason for it. listen up. there is a digital battle brewing and our next guest is scowling it the social media cold war. >> that's right. instagram, the social media site that allows users to share photos, is blocking its photos from appearing on twitter. that means when you go to post a picture on instagram and send a twitter, only the link will appear, no photo. to see an instagram picture, users will have to leave twitter and go to the instagram site to access it. here to tell us about this battle and what it means for your social media consumption is matt mccanon, the editor of buzz feed. welcome. you call this a cold war. what's going on here? >> if you want to go back to the

beginning, facebook kind of started it in 2010 when they cut twitter off the from accessing your friends list. and then facebook, as you might know, acquired instagram earlier this year. >> for a cool $1 billion. >> for a cool $1 billion. and shortly afterward, twitter cut instagram off from accessing your friends list on twitter. so this is sort of the latest thing now that your instagram photos soon won't be appearing on twitter.com or through twitter apps. you'll have to follow a link of an instagram photo to instagram in order to see the photos. >> here's kind of the problem with it. when i was looking at one this morning, i thought, this is how i use instagram, is i tweet out pictures. and i'm not alone. 30% of all links were shared on twitter, they were photos of instagram. this affects a lot of twitter folks. how is instagram going to survive something like this? >> instagram recently passed 100 million users, which they announced in september. so they're less dependent on twitter to get bigger than they might have been in the beginning and they also have all of facebook's might behind them and facebook as you know has 1

billion users. so they're definitely going to be able to survive. and they've been growing at sort of an insane rate. like when they were acquired, they were in the tens of millions of users. and since then, in a few short months, they've already hit 100 million users. >> who has the upper hand then? is it instagram who wants more social media traffic and not necessarily just raw photo stuff on their website, or is it twitter, who may be compares with somebody else on photos. >> well, twitter is sort of an interesting place, they've been moving from twitter, traditionally, you think of 140 characters, like small text bites. but if you look at how twitter's changed over the last year, they've been getting more into a media-rich stream. so when you go on twitter, they want you to see photos and videos of this kind of thing in your stream. and losing instagram definitely hurts twitter here. >> so there are always really smart people who bypass everything under the sun. is there a way to bypass this? >> there is. and it's not terribly convoluted, but you would have to go into your phone's photos applications and there's a way to upload to instagram and

twitter simultaneously or there's another way to use four square to upload to instagram and twitter simultaneously. >> what's it mean for the end user? for a while there, in the beginning of all these social media outlets, you could do everything everywhere, and now it's kind of vulcanized again. >> right. >> the brands want their own traffic, their own potential revenue, right? they don't necessarily all want to share. so who wins in the end? >> it's hard to say. they all want to win in the end and they're all sort of pursuing, in their own way, similar strategies. facebook's using like promoted posts and sponsored things and getting brands to, you know, spend money to have users like them on facebook. and twitter is sort of doing the same thing, where they have promoted posts that they would like you to see. instagram hasn't really done anything like that yet, but they just revealed the new instagram.com, which if you look at nike's page, you have this real beautiful page filled with images of nike sneakers and that

kind of thing. >> here's a big disconnect for us. it's a way to share, it's very cool, for them it's a way to monetize. at the end of the day, that's what they're going to do. thank you so much, matt mccanon, tech editor at buzz feed. appreciate it. up next, our geekiest, best advice of today that comes from ken jennings. may the force be with you. [ man ] in hong kong, on my way to the board meeting... anne's tablet called my phone. anne's tablet was chatting with a tablet in sydney... a desktop in zurich... and a telepresence room in brazil. the secure cloud helped us get some numbers from my assistant's pc in new york. and before i reached the top, the board meeting became a congrats we sold the company party. wait til my wife's phone hears about this. [ cellphone vibrating ] [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center, working together has never worked so well.

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wrapping it up as always with best advice. today we hear from all-time "jeopardy!" champ ken jennings and ask him the best advice he's ever heard. listen. >> the best advice i've ever received is thing yoda says about luke skywalker in "the

empire strikes back." he says, always has this one's mind looked to the future, to the horizon. never has this one's mind been on where he was, what he was doing. i think that's very good advice. it's made me want to think more about the moment and not just getting on to what the next thing is. >> i would say yoda is full of good advice. >> that's right. i'm christine romans. that's it for "early start" today. >> soledad o'brien is up now with "starting point." morning. welcome, everybody. our starting point this morning, clashes in cairo. tanks outside the palace there after a violent and deadly night. we'll tell you why people are protesting the new proposed constitution. and we're monitoring the very latest for you in syria, as more evidence comes to light about syria loading the precursors of deadly chemicals into bombs. for the first time, recreational marijuana use for adults has been legalized. in an american